A press release from Congressman Joe Walsh:
Rep. Walsh Responds to the Brady Campaign on Illinois’s Restrictive Gun Laws
Sends Letter to Acting President Henigan Highlighting the Importance of the Second Amendment
Joe Walsh at the Huntley Tea Party Gun Control Forum.
WASHINGTON – Representative Joe Walsh (IL-8) sent a letter today to Acting President Dennis Henigan of the Brady Campaign, an anti-Second Amendment organization, to describe the importance of gun rights and how they are currently being disregarded, particularly in Illinois.
Last week, Acting President Henigan requested an “explanation” after Rep. Walsh stressed the importance of permitting conceal carry firearms in the state and the right to keep and bear arms before gun rights advocates in Huntley, IL.
“I am happy to today respond to Mr. Henigan’s request for clarity when I emphasized that the Second Amendment is the most important amendment in the Constitution – because it protects every other amendment,” said Rep. Walsh.
“I hope I was clear in that and wanted to send this letter to help ensure that message is clear.”
“Illinois is now the only state in the entire nation that doesn’t allow lawful Americans to carry a firearm. Violent crimes continue to decrease even as more states such as Wisconsin – that recently passed a concealed carry permit – repeal archaic laws crafted to restrict gun rights.”
“We need not forget that freedom was gained and will always be maintained by a strict interpretation of our Constitution and this certainly includes the Second Amendment.
“While I respect the mission of the Brady Campaign to reduce crime and violence, we strongly disagree on how this should be done.
“It should not be done through the slow dismantling of our right to bear arms, and by disarming law abiding Americans.”
“Gun rights advocates are on the front lines in defending our freedoms. I stand with them in this noble mission and will always be an outspoken advocate for Second Amendment rights and particularly, a repeal of Illinois laws preventing the right-to-carry.”
The letter is below. Click to enlarge.
Fox News reports on the effect of overturning Chicago’s gun ban. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/09/30/media-silence-is-deafening-about-important-gun-news/
“Murder and violent crime rates were supposed to soar after the Supreme Court struck down gun control laws in Chicago and Washington, D.C. …
…But Armageddon never happened. Newly released data for Chicago shows that, as in Washington, murder and gun crime rates didn’t rise after the bans were eliminated — they plummeted. They have fallen much more than the national crime rate. ”
Gun crime rates rise when guns are banned, they fall when the people are allowed to own and carry guns. This is a fact. They went up in the UK and Australia when they banned guns, they went down in Florida, when the enacted “shall issue” concealed carry.
Watch Wisconsin next year after they implement their new concealed carry law.
Interesting. Is this another effort by Walsh to pander to voters? I thought that he supported the Brady Law during one of his past campaigns when he was a running as a social liberal. Can anyone really trust this guy????
Thank You Joe!
Well, we know for a FACT that Melissa Bean was not a strong defender of the right to keep and bear arms. The extent of her support was to vote in favor of prohibiting law suits against gun makers for the criminal misuse of guns by criminals.
The Gun Owners of America gave her a “F” rating, while the Brady Conspiracy Against Gun Owners gave her a 66% rating.
And it is a fact that Bean accused Walsh of being “reckless” for supporting concealed carry in her campaign ads, which put her on the side of the Brady Conspiracy. When she was ducking debates, Bean sent a statement that she opposed concealed carry.
As for “TJ’s” claim that he once supported the Brady Bill, either provide a citation that can be checked, or I’ll assume you are a just another Walsh hater passing gas.
It appears to me that Joe Walsh wants to get me killed with his reckless support of concealed carry.
Concealed carry is a real killer of an idea!
Melissa Bean was far from perfect but she was a lot better than Joe Walsh has turned out to be. I wish that the newspapers and the TV reporters would stop saying that he is from Illinois.